Author: haroonkhan
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THE PRESENT AS A PROCESSUAL PRODUCT
We must, however, not minimize the importance of earlier studies. Proposing a functional theory of change, Talcott Parsons made it clear that any ‘ordinary system … is capable of description of, on the one hand a structure, a set of units or components with … stable properties, which of course may be relational, and on…
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Introduction
Prior to the advent of the social sciences, our understanding of society was guided by the perception of sages and savants, who mixed descriptions of ‘actually existing social situations’ with prescriptions regarding a desirable social structure, norms of behaviour, and cultural patterns. These native philosophers did not make a distinction between ‘what is’ and ‘what…
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GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY OF CHANGE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NON-WEST
When sociology-anthropology reached the non-Western world, the expatriate researchers studying primitive societies and non-Western civilizations focused their attention more on finding the differences between the West and the non-West. Implicit in their quest was the hypothesis that these non-Western societies represent stages lower than Western civilization. With this assumption, they devoted their time and attention…
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Pitirim Sorokin: Change in Cultural Mentalities
Amongst the sociologists, Sorokin’s contribution to the theory of change is regarded as significant. Handling the theme at the macro level, Sorokin attempted to explain the rise and fall of cultures in terms of cultural mentalities. He claims that his theory can account for all types of change occurring in a society, be they (a) changes that…
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Arnold Toynbee: The Study of History
British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee is known for his 12-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, published as A Study of History, 1934–1961.3 Toynbee was also interested in the seeming repetition of patterns in history and, later, in the origins of civilization. This interest led him to read Spengler’s work. Although both men describe the…
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Oswald Spengler: The Decline of the West
The essential components of The Decline of the West are simple and straightforward. He followed the intuitive path rather than the scientific, and insisted on seeing things as they are, calling this manner of seeing reality the ‘physiogmatic’ approach. Using this approach, Spengler formulated his postulates. In doing so: With civilization, Spengler associates the power of money…
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CIVILIZATIONAL APPROACH TO CHANGE
As a discipline, history has primarily addressed the past. It is described as a chronology—describing events in a time sequence, related to particular societies. But some historians engaged themselves in examining the course of civilizations and offering theories of change. Rather than focusing on origins, these historians talked about the growth of cultures and civilizations…
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DIFFUSIONIST THEORIES
Alongside evolutionary theories, there developed the theories of diffusion, which underlined the phenomenon of cultural contact and mutual borrowing of ideas and artefacts. As we have seen, it is the diffusionist dimension that was incorporated in the revised theories of evolution, called multilineal and neo-evolutionary. Providing a corrective to evolutionary theorists, the diffusionists asserted that…
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MULTILINEAR EVOLUTIONISM
The unilineal evolutionary theories as well as theories of universal evolutionism were disputed by many. They were regarded as conjectural history and fieldworkers found data from their specific ethnographic studies to falsify them. The stages were not found to be universally true, nor was the unilineal sequence observed everywhere. Neo-evolutionism was the first in a…
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UNILINEAR EVOLUTION THE STAIRCASE THEORY
What Morgan propounded is generally known as the theory of unilinear evolution. It purports that there is a single dominant line of evolution, and that all societies pass through the same stages. Since the pace of ‘progress’ differs from society to society, those with a slower pace were placed on the lower rungs of the ladder, compared…